Brooding Fabian locked the door to his office again but not without casting a forlorn glance at his empty coffee cup. He sat down and wondered if Cass would let him have a coffee-machine in his office and then decided that now was definitely not the right time to be asking for things like that. What on earth was she up to, asking to tour the Halls of Sunset? He thought that it was very like her -- she was an unstoppable as a runaway earth-mover when she got the bit between her teeth... hmm, was that a mixed metaphor? Or was he combining them to create a new one? He shook his head, recognising an avoidance strategy and forced himself back to the problem. What did he not want to think about? Ah, yes, of course. Who Cass might just be upsetting. He brooded over the issue for another half-hour before his stomach started rumbling and he decided that he'd gone quite long enough without a cup of coffee. He unlocked the door with exquisite care, maintaining tension on the key so that it barely clicked as the lock opened, and eased the door open with the precision of a cat burglar. Peering through the gap between the door and the frame he decided the corridor looked and sounded empty and gently opened it further. No-one was visible still, so he started forward, then paused and slipped his shoes off. In red-and-white striped socks he padded down the corridor and into the empty kitchen, where he felt a brief moment of relief, and then started filling his coffee cup. His tablet buzzed just as the cup was almost full and he jumped violently, spilling hot coffee over the counter-top and his hand. Cursing, under his breath to avoid anyone hearing, he made himself set the coffee jug and cup down before moving smartly to the sink and running his hand under the cold tap. His tablet continued buzzing insistently so he pulled it out with his free hand, set it on a dry patch on the counter, and tapped the Answer button.
"Fab?" "Dread? You just made me spill my coffee." "You drink too much coffee anyway. Sharing some with the floor won't hurt." Fabian eyed the brown pool of coffee that was gradually making its way to the edge of the counter and then looked about for a cloth to mop it up with. "Did you just call to randomly improve my health?" "You spilled a lot of it, didn't you?" "Get on with it, Dread!" The chuckle from the phone made Fabian purse his lips in annoyance; then he spotted a cloth and started mopping the coffee spill up. His hand, now out from under the stream of cold water, started stinging. "Your HR director, what's her name again?" "Cass. Oh wait, is this about what she's been doing?" "Jesus Fab, if you know what she's doing then why aren't you stopping her?!" Dread sounded slightly appalled. "You're welcome to try stopping her yourself sometime," said Fabian, unable to stop himself from sounding grumpy. He wrang the cloth out over the sink, held his hand under the tap for a few seconds, and went back to the now-smaller puddle of coffee. "I had her, the Maestro and some mage in my office this morning all arguing over the Halls of Sunset, and the next thing I know Cass has decided that the Museum actually owns the place and wants a tour of the place." "I know about the Halls of Sunset," said Dread. "I got the memo already, and it's raising hackles. And ruffling feathers. And clacking bones, if you want the trifecta." "I'm not surprised," said Fabian. He wrang the cloth out again, wiped up the last residue of the spill and then ran the cloth and his hand beneath the cold water tap. His hand was starting to feel numb. "But honestly, trying to tell her not to would only cause as much trouble because then she'd do it without telling me first." "Huh," said Dread. "If someone did that on a ship it's called mutiny." "And then you keelhaul them?" "Something like that," said Dread. "Look, do what you can to calm her down, will you? She's not making any friends here, and sooner or later people are going to wonder if you're encouraging her if they don't see you opposing her." "Great," said Fabian. "Just great. Hey, do you want to come on this tour of the place she's trying to organise?" "No!"
3 comments:
Fabian has got some stuff to brood over... :)
Brooding
Fabian locked the door to his office again but not without casting a forlorn glance at his empty coffee cup. He sat down and wondered if Cass would let him have a coffee-machine in his office and then decided that now was definitely not the right time to be asking for things like that. What on earth was she up to, asking to tour the Halls of Sunset? He thought that it was very like her -- she was an unstoppable as a runaway earth-mover when she got the bit between her teeth... hmm, was that a mixed metaphor? Or was he combining them to create a new one? He shook his head, recognising an avoidance strategy and forced himself back to the problem. What did he not want to think about? Ah, yes, of course. Who Cass might just be upsetting.
He brooded over the issue for another half-hour before his stomach started rumbling and he decided that he'd gone quite long enough without a cup of coffee. He unlocked the door with exquisite care, maintaining tension on the key so that it barely clicked as the lock opened, and eased the door open with the precision of a cat burglar. Peering through the gap between the door and the frame he decided the corridor looked and sounded empty and gently opened it further. No-one was visible still, so he started forward, then paused and slipped his shoes off. In red-and-white striped socks he padded down the corridor and into the empty kitchen, where he felt a brief moment of relief, and then started filling his coffee cup.
His tablet buzzed just as the cup was almost full and he jumped violently, spilling hot coffee over the counter-top and his hand. Cursing, under his breath to avoid anyone hearing, he made himself set the coffee jug and cup down before moving smartly to the sink and running his hand under the cold tap. His tablet continued buzzing insistently so he pulled it out with his free hand, set it on a dry patch on the counter, and tapped the Answer button.
"Fab?"
"Dread? You just made me spill my coffee."
"You drink too much coffee anyway. Sharing some with the floor won't hurt."
Fabian eyed the brown pool of coffee that was gradually making its way to the edge of the counter and then looked about for a cloth to mop it up with.
"Did you just call to randomly improve my health?"
"You spilled a lot of it, didn't you?"
"Get on with it, Dread!"
The chuckle from the phone made Fabian purse his lips in annoyance; then he spotted a cloth and started mopping the coffee spill up. His hand, now out from under the stream of cold water, started stinging.
"Your HR director, what's her name again?"
"Cass. Oh wait, is this about what she's been doing?"
"Jesus Fab, if you know what she's doing then why aren't you stopping her?!" Dread sounded slightly appalled.
"You're welcome to try stopping her yourself sometime," said Fabian, unable to stop himself from sounding grumpy. He wrang the cloth out over the sink, held his hand under the tap for a few seconds, and went back to the now-smaller puddle of coffee. "I had her, the Maestro and some mage in my office this morning all arguing over the Halls of Sunset, and the next thing I know Cass has decided that the Museum actually owns the place and wants a tour of the place."
"I know about the Halls of Sunset," said Dread. "I got the memo already, and it's raising hackles. And ruffling feathers. And clacking bones, if you want the trifecta."
"I'm not surprised," said Fabian. He wrang the cloth out again, wiped up the last residue of the spill and then ran the cloth and his hand beneath the cold water tap. His hand was starting to feel numb. "But honestly, trying to tell her not to would only cause as much trouble because then she'd do it without telling me first."
"Huh," said Dread. "If someone did that on a ship it's called mutiny."
"And then you keelhaul them?"
"Something like that," said Dread. "Look, do what you can to calm her down, will you? She's not making any friends here, and sooner or later people are going to wonder if you're encouraging her if they don't see you opposing her."
"Great," said Fabian. "Just great. Hey, do you want to come on this tour of the place she's trying to organise?"
"No!"
Greg - hah, love the description of Fabian sneaking out to get coffee. Unfortunate results, obviously, but one hell of an effort!
And yeah, I didn't think Dread would want in on that tour...
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